November 01, 2022
Kenya: Digital Solutions Are Boosting Agriculture in Kenya, but It's Time to Scale Up. Here's How
Digital agricultural services have proliferated across Africa over the last decade. Most are services that work on mobile phones, although more advanced technologies are in use too… Read more »
October 31, 2022
Africa: How Debt-for-Climate Swaps Can Help Solve Low-Income Countries' Fiscal and Environmental Challenges At the Same Time
Barbados Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley spoke passionately to the United Nations General Assembly in September about the mounting debt many developing countries are shouldering… Read more »
November 01, 2022
Nigeria: Serena Williams' Investment Shows That Tech Sector Is Attractive - But Things Can Be Better
Nigeria is the leading African destination for foreign direct investments in technology startup businesses. Between 2015 and 2022, Nigerian technology startups have secured funding… Read more »
October 27, 2022
Africa: Elon Musk Takes Twitter Private - Here's What That Means for the Company and Its Chances of Success
Elon Musk has finally completed his US$44 billion deal to acquire Twitter and take it private. Read more »
October 25, 2022
Kenya: Kenya's Big Railway Project Makes Life Even Harder for the Poor By Ignoring Their Reality
People's responses to large infrastructure projects - railways, bridges, highways - are rarely neutral. To some, these projects represent powerful social and political promises of… Read more »
Ghana: Ghana's Economic Crisis - Expert Insights Into How Things Got So Bad - and What the Fixes Are
Ghana is grappling with runaway inflation as prices of basic commodities have spiralled. Government finances are also at their weakest in years. Ghana's local currency, the cedi,… Read more »
October 24, 2022
Africa: From Water Conservation to Crop Selection, How Farmers CAN Take Action Against Drought #AfricaClimateHope
As climate change accelerates, many countries around the world are increasingly facing the risk of drought. Water scarcity has become one of the major constraints of food… Read more »
October 23, 2022
South Africa: 4 Ways Companies Can Strengthen Their Boards to Make It Through Tough Economic Times
South Africa's economy is struggling. A number of factors are behind the decline. These include severe power cuts which are taking their toll on all spheres of the economy, rising… Read more »
Nigeria: Nigeria's 2023 Budget Is a Plan of Despair and Won't Change the Tempo of the Economy
Nigeria's 2023 budget, recently presented by President Muhammadu Buhari to the National Assembly, has generated a furore. Read more »
October 13, 2022
Ghana: Ghana's Artisanal Miners Are a Law Unto Themselves - Involving Communities Can Help Fix the Problem
Ghana is Africa's largest gold producer, the sixth globally. It produced approximately 129 metric tonnes in 2021. Read more »
October 12, 2022
Somalia: Puntland State Port Is Getting a Revamp - This Is Key to Its Future
The port city of Bosaso, located at the north-eastern corner of Somalia, provides a striking example of the interlinkage between security and infrastructure. The city benefited… Read more »
South Africa: Johannesburg's 'World Class' Aspirations Create Hostility Towards Informal Traders
Unemployment and the rising cost of living force many people to make a living in the informal economy, particularly street trading. While it is difficult to measure the size of the… Read more »
October 10, 2022
Ghana: Debt Restructuring Must Go Hand-in-Hand With Managing Finances Better
Ghana is struggling with managing its debt, 20-year high inflation, a weak currency, and rising inequality. For example, inflation rose to 33.9% in August 2022 from 9.7% a year… Read more »
October 08, 2022
Uganda: Fuel Smugglers - Are the Opec Boys (Anti-)heroes of the Marginalised?
Smuggling in the Ugandan border region of West Nile has a long and chequered history. It straddles the fine line between legitimacy and legality. Governance and conflict researcher… Read more »
October 07, 2022
Uganda: Uganda's Owen Falls Dam - a Colonial Legacy That Still Stings, 67 Years Later
Uganda's Owen Falls hydropower plant has a rich history that predates the country's independence in 1962. The plant is located across the White Nile and sits between the towns of… Read more »
October 05, 2022
South Africa: Construction Waste Is Costly - What's Causing It On South African Building Sites
The construction industry contributes significantly to a country's economy through infrastructure development. The industry has expanded rapidly worldwide and further growth is… Read more »
Africa: On the Brink - Global Crises Demand Radical Change
We have damaged our planet through destructive exploitation of fossil fuels and the insatiable demand for things we don't need. We are cooking ourselves to death and it may already… Read more »
October 04, 2022
Ghana: Blaming Poor Labour Conditions in Transport Sector On Ride-Hailing Companies Misses the Deeper Issues
Ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft have become ubiquitous in many parts of the world over the past decade. Criticism of their business model has also become commonplace:… Read more »
South Africa: A Basic Income Grant for South Africa - More Money in Poor People's Pockets, but At a Heavy Cost
Analyses of the implications of extending income support measures in South Africa, including a basic income grant, have focused on one of three things: how much it will cost,… Read more »
October 03, 2022
Ghana: Ghana's Petroleum Sector Management Is a Mess - What's Gone Wrong?
After three decades of prospecting Ghana discovered commercially viable quantities of petroleum in 2007. Within 3.5 years, it exported its first barrels of crude oil. The… Read more »
Kenya: New Finance Minister Has Good Credentials but He Can't Work Miracles
President William Ruto has nominated Njuguna Ndung'u to head Kenya's National Treasury. A Central Bank of Kenya governor for eight years between 2007 and 2015, Ndung'u is also an… Read more »
September 29, 2022
Africa: Africa Risks Losing Out On Trade As Rich Countries Cement Relationships With Trusted Partners
Over the past few years, the world's supply chains have been strained and disrupted by the COVID pandemic, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and rising geopolitical tensions. These… Read more »
Africa: Green Hydrogen Sounds Like a Win for Developing Countries. But Cost and Transport Are Problems
Hydrogen is used mainly to make chemicals such as fertiliser, and in oil refineries. Most hydrogen in the world today is made from natural gas or coal - methods associated with… Read more »
Nigeria: Foreign Investment Into Nigeria Has Fallen Sharply - Rights and Freedoms May Be One Reason
Nigeria has always managed to attract foreign direct investment despite its poor economic outlook. This is thanks to its oil reserves and the consumption potential of its large… Read more »
September 27, 2022
Ghana: Northern Ghana Is Underdeveloped Because of Underinvestment During Colonial Rule, Not Geography
Ghana's most important development problem is arguably the disparity between the north and south of the country. The north is acutely underdeveloped, trailing the south in… Read more »